Echoes of the Moon
by Arkenn
Summary: Grimm march north from the south into the Skoll woods to renew their invasion of Vale, while Atlesian mechanical might pushes down from the north to meet them. In the middle travels the newly-departed team RNJR making a break for the Eastern coast, as well as a town that had managed to escape conflicts for over a decade.


**The Village of Skoll:**

A figure pulled its hulking body up through a hole in the painted glass of the village steeple, its salt-and-pepper fur coat shimmering in the faint moonlight penetrating the clouds. Leaving the oppressive downpour into the relative cover of the tower, the man took a moment to shake itself off, ruffling the coat, allowing some of the water to slip off of the smooth fur. Holding onto the windowsill with one hand it turned its head to look down the chimney-like structure that rose above the pedestal and lectern far below. The room below was lit with soft orange light, the result of lit candles rather than the oppressive aura of dust.

The beast heard some shuffling below, and could feel the fear of forty or so Humans and Faunus, as well as the steely resolve of a few. Those asleep, or pretending to be, were laid together in rows with their ear to the storm.

A flash of light, then a few moments later the crack of thunder rang, the strike obviously close as the sound rattled the intact panes of glass next to the man, sending one or two shards tumbling to the floor below, causing a spike in anxiety and fear. The figure would have grinned a dark smile if it had lips, but its alligator-like jaws simply parted in concentration, waiting for the next flash of lightning before letting its grip on the window.

It fell a short way, its impact with the wood below and the crunch of the wood going to splinters matched the booming thunder, muffling the sound. The thing stood at full height, rolling back its shoulders to stand at its full height as it surveyed the room.

Not a mere moment later and a blade rested against the crook of its shoulder, a red and black scythe laid firmly as if to slice it in half with a mere gesture. The woman bearing the blade had her brows furrowed, her lips pursed, her silver eyes narrowed. Her damp coat clung to her wiry frame like a wet towel, her hair sticking this way and that in the dampness of the building.

She eyed the monster with curiosity, awareness. Her gaze couldn't pierce the darkness of the cloak, nor determine the red of its eyes, nor the lope hiding in its pose. It looked like the sort of specter that's the center point of a supernatural thriller, the cloak and size giving it an imposing presence, something not quite like a man, but approximating.

But now was a time to act, and this was a discernable threat. She rested her finger on the trigger and exhaled, her eyes never leaving her faceless target.

As the soft sound of air left her body the man exploded into action, rotating clockwise to drag the blade back by its dangerous edge. Its broad shoulders began pulling the weapon back, and through the girl's grip before her finger could depress the trigger. The girl adapted immediately, twisting the grip of her scythe to slip it off the Grimm's back before it could pull her off-balance. Disengaging and backing up ten feet as a grenade blew up in the Man's face, a cloud of pink dust crackling with electricity as it dispersed.

"Talk about creepy." Grumbled Nora, her expression a grimace as she watched the Grimm pick itself up off the ground after having been knocked down by the force. "This guy's head as hard as a rock or what?

"Nora, please don't use explosives on or near civilians." Ren sighed, his own weapons sheathed in case a stray round glanced off something and into the new roused people who were looking with horror at the exchange going on. "We might have to take this outside."

"And how do we convince it to go nicely?" Groaned Jaune, who eyed the beast with weary eyes. "I'm not going to play negotiator."

Before they could argue about tactic, the man dusted itself off and eyed them sharply, before raising one of its large hands and pointing to the double doors behind them which lead out to the rainy outdoors. It looked to each of them in turn before walking forwards, causing each of them to flinch in anticipation. As it approached the candlelight, the figure shifted its hood, the flickering light highlighting a white muzzle lined with black fur and red lines.

The quartet of Humans shifted, their hands clenching in unison as the beast passed them by and sauntered towards the exit, shoulders hunched. If the Humans wanted conflict, they'd resolve it where the Humans weren't cowering in fear.

 **AN:**

For those of you that wanted a sequel to Howling at the Moon, this is the closest we're gonna come to for now. The Beowolf is back, though things went a bit different, and we'll be seeing what that means over the course of this story.

The center of the story is this small town of Skoll, but from there we're going to be bringing in RNJR, Winter, Blake, and more as the story develops. I'm planning on doing a lot more planning than I did for HatM, so I already have a solid idea of the story arc we're going into here. I think we're going to have some fun here.

I hope you all enjoy!


End file.
